2002 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

The 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. A total of 64 games were played.

2002 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	2001–02
Teams	65
Finals site	Georgia Dome Atlanta
Champions	Maryland Terrapins (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Indiana Hoosiers (6th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kansas Jayhawks (11th Final Four) Oklahoma Sooners (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Gary Williams (1st title)
MOP	Juan Dixon (Maryland)
Attendance	720,433
Top scorers	Juan Dixon Maryland Jared Jeffries Indiana (155 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «2001 2003»

This was the first year that the tournament used the so-called "pod" system, in which the eight first- and second-round sites are distributed around the four regionals. Teams were assigned to first round spots in order to minimize travel for as many teams as possible. The top seeds at each site were:

• Sacramento: Oregon (M2), USC (S4)
• Albuquerque: Arizona (W3), Ohio State (W4)
• Dallas: Oklahoma (W2), Mississippi State (M3)
• St. Louis: Kansas (M1), Kentucky (E4)
• Chicago: Georgia (E3), Illinois (M4)
• Pittsburgh: Cincinnati (W1), Pittsburgh (S3)
• Washington, D.C.: Maryland (E1), Connecticut (E2)
• Greenville: Duke (S1), Alabama (S2)

The Final Four consisted of Maryland, making their second consecutive appearance, Kansas, making their first appearance since 1993, Indiana, making their first appearance since 1992, and Oklahoma, making their first appearance since their national runner-up finish in 1988.

Maryland defeated Indiana 64–52 in the championship game to win their first ever national championship. Juan Dixon of Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

For the second straight tournament, the Elite Eight featured at least one double-digit seed. South Region tenth-seed Kent State and West Region twelfth-seed Missouri played in their respective regional finals, with Kent State losing to Indiana and Missouri losing to Oklahoma. This also marked the first time since 1987 that no team from the states of North Carolina nor Kentucky reached the Final Four.

Locations

Washington, D.C.

Pittsburgh

Greenville

Chicago

St. Louis

Dallas

Albuquerque

Sacramento

2002 first and second rounds (note: the play-in game was held in Dayton, Ohio)

San Jose

Madison

Lexington

Syracuse

Atlanta

2002 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2002 tournament:

Opening round

March 12

University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds

March 14 and 16

ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific)

BI-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts: Southern Conference and Furman University)

Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

University Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)

March 15 and 17

American Airlines Center, Dallas (Host: Big 12 Conference)

MCI Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh (Host: Duquesne University)

United Center, Chicago (Host: Big Ten Conference)

Regionals

March 21 and 23

South Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)

West Regional, Compaq Center at San Jose, San Jose, California (Host: Santa Clara University)

March 22 and 24

East Regional, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University)

Midwest Regional, Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)

Final Four

March 30 and April 1

Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

For the second time, Atlanta was the host city of the Final Four, with the Georgia Dome becoming the 33rd host venue. The Georgia Dome also currently holds the distinction of being the most recent Final Four venue to close and be demolished, as it did so in 2017 after the opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which was slated to host the Final Four in 2020 before the NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament included three new venues and two new host cities. The American Airlines Center in Dallas, which opened in 2001, replaced Reunion Arena as the city's primary winter sports venue. The Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin brought the tournament back to Wisconsin's capital city for the first time since 1969, although it has not returned since. The city of Greenville, South Carolina's Bi-Lo Center hosted for the first time in 2002; however, due to the Confederate flag controversy at the South Carolina State Capitol, the NCAA chose not to return to the arena until 2017, two years after the flag was removed, moving games from Greensboro, North Carolina, because of the controversy surrounding HB2. The 2002 tournament was the last time that the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (then called Mellon Arena) hosted the tournament; it closed in 2010 and games have since been played at its replacement, PPG Paints Arena.

Teams

East Regional – Syracuse
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Maryland	Gary Williams	ACC	26–4	At-Large
#2	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Big East	24–6	Automatic
#3	Georgia	Jim Harrick	SEC	21–9	At-Large
#4	Kentucky	Tubby Smith	SEC	20–9	At-Large
#5	Marquette	Tom Crean	Conference USA	26–6	At-Large
#6	Texas Tech	Bob Knight	Big 12	23–8	At-Large
#7	North Carolina State	Herb Sendek	ACC	22–10	At-Large
#8	Wisconsin	Bo Ryan	Big Ten	18–12	At-Large
#9	St. John's	Mike Jarvis	Big East	20–11	At-Large
#10	Michigan State	Tom Izzo	Big Ten	19–11	At-Large
#11	Southern Illinois	Bruce Weber	Missouri Valley	26–7	At-Large
#12	Tulsa	John Phillips	WAC	26–6	At-Large
#13	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Mid-Continent	25–7	Automatic
#14	Murray State	Tevester Anderson	OVC	19–12	Automatic
#15	Hampton	Steve Merfeld	MEAC	26–6	Automatic
#16	Siena	Rob Lanier	MAAC	16–18	Automatic
	Alcorn State	Davey Whitney	SWAC	21–9	Automatic

Midwest Regional – Madison
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Kansas	Roy Williams	Big 12	29–3	At-Large
#2	Oregon	Ernie Kent	Pac-10	23–8	At-Large
#3	Mississippi State	Rick Stansbury	SEC	26–7	Automatic
#4	Illinois	Bill Self	Big Ten	24–8	At-Large
#5	Florida	Billy Donovan	SEC	22–8	At-Large
#6	Texas	Rick Barnes	Big 12	20–11	At-Large
#7	Wake Forest	Skip Prosser	ACC	20–12	At-Large
#8	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Pac-10	19–9	At-Large
#9	Western Kentucky	Dennis Felton	Sun Belt	28–3	Automatic
#10	Pepperdine	Paul Westphal	WCC	22–8	At-Large
#11	Boston College	Al Skinner	Big East	20–11	At-Large
#12	Creighton	Dana Altman	Missouri Valley	22–8	Automatic
#13	San Diego State	Steve Fisher	Mountain West	21–11	Automatic
#14	McNeese State	Tic Price	Southland	21–8	Automatic
#15	Montana	Don Holst	Big Sky	16–14	Automatic
#16	Holy Cross	Ralph Willard	Patriot	18–14	Automatic

South Regional – Lexington
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	ACC	29–3	Automatic
#2	Alabama	Mark Gottfried	SEC	26–7	At-Large
#3	Pittsburgh	Ben Howland	Big East	27–5	At-Large
#4	USC	Henry Bibby	Pac-10	22–9	At-Large
#5	Indiana	Mike Davis	Big Ten	20–11	At-Large
#6	California	Ben Braun	Pac-10	22–8	At-Large
#7	Oklahoma State	Eddie Sutton	Big 12	23–8	At-Large
#8	Notre Dame	Mike Brey	Big East	21–10	At-Large
#9	Charlotte	Bobby Lutz	Conference USA	18–11	At-Large
#10	Kent State	Stan Heath	MAC	27–5	Automatic
#11	Pennsylvania	Fran Dunphy	Ivy League	25–6	Automatic
#12	Utah	Rick Majerus	Mountain West	21–8	At-Large
#13	UNC Wilmington	Jerry Wainwright	CAA	22–9	Automatic
#14	Central Connecticut State	Howie Dickenman	NEC	27–4	Automatic
#15	Florida Atlantic	Sidney Green	Atlantic Sun	19–11	Automatic
#16	Winthrop	Gregg Marshall	Big South	19–11	Automatic

West Regional – San Jose
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	Conference USA	30–3	Automatic
#2	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Big 12	27–4	Automatic
#3	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pac-10	22–9	Automatic
#4	Ohio State	Jim O'Brien	Big Ten	23–7	Automatic
#5	Miami (FL)	Perry Clark	Big East	24–7	At-Large
#6	Gonzaga	Mark Few	WCC	29–3	Automatic
#7	Xavier	Thad Matta	Atlantic 10	25–5	Automatic
#8	UCLA	Steve Lavin	Pac-10	19–11	At-Large
#9	Ole Miss	Rod Barnes	SEC	20–10	At-Large
#10	Hawaii	Riley Wallace	WAC	27–5	Automatic
#11	Wyoming	Steve McClain	Mountain West	21–8	At-Large
#12	Missouri	Quin Snyder	Big 12	21–11	At-Large
#13	Davidson	Bob McKillop	Southern	21–9	Automatic
#14	UC Santa Barbara	Bob Williams	Big West	20–10	Automatic
#15	Illinois-Chicago	Jimmy Collins	Horizon	20–13	Automatic
#16	Boston University	Dennis Wolff	America East	22–9	Automatic

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference(s)
6	Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC
5	Big Ten
4	ACC
3	C-USA, Mountain West
2	Missouri Valley, WAC, WCC
1	20 others

Final four

At Georgia Dome, Atlanta

National Semifinals

• March 30, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 97, Kansas (M1) 88

  For the second straight year the Maryland Terrapins earned a bid to the Final Four. This time they would take advantage of their trip. After falling behind 13–2 to the Kansas Jayhawks to begin the game, Maryland stormed to a 44–37 lead at halftime. They expanded their lead to 20, 83–63, with 6:11 left in the game. Roy Williams' Kansas squad did not quit and closed the gap to 4 with under a minute remaining, but the Terps survived to advance to the championship, 97–88. Maryland senior Juan Dixon led the contest in scoring with 33.[1]

  • Indiana (S5) 73, Oklahoma (W2) 64

  Mike Davis's Indiana Hoosiers continued their Cinderella ride in the NCAA Tournament by defeating another higher ranked team, the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma led most of the first half, and took a 34–30 lead into halftime. However, with the score 60–60 late in the 2nd half Indiana broke ahead for good with an easy bucket from Jeff Newton, who led the Hoosiers with 19 points. The Hoosiers outscored the Sooners by 13 in the 2nd half and advanced to the championship game with a 73–64 victory. Oklahoma was coached by Kelvin Sampson, who later in his career would succeed Davis as IU head coach.[2]

Championship Game

Main article: 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

• April 1, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 64, Indiana (S5) 52

  The Maryland Terrapins completed the task they set out to do one year earlier by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 64–52. Maryland led virtually the entire game except for a brief point with 9:52 left in the basketball game when Indiana took a 44–42 lead. Maryland answered the Hoosier run and ended the game with a 22–8 run to bring home the school's first and coach Gary Williams' only men's basketball National Championship. Senior Juan Dixon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP).[3]

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional — Syracuse, New York

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Maryland	85
	16	Siena	70
						1	Maryland	87
	Washington, D.C.
						8	Wisconsin	57
	8	Wisconsin	80
	9	St. John's	70
											1	Maryland	78
											4	Kentucky	68
	5	Marquette	69
	12	Tulsa	71
						12	Tulsa	82
	St. Louis
						4	Kentucky	87
	4	Kentucky	83
	13	Valparaiso	68
																1	Maryland	90
																2	Connecticut	82
	6	Texas Tech	68
	11	Southern Illinois	76
						11	Southern Illinois	77
	Chicago
						3	Georgia	75
	3	Georgia	85
	14	Murray State	68
											11	Southern Illinois	59
											2	Connecticut	71
	7	North Carolina State	69
	10	Michigan State	58
						7	North Carolina State	74
	Washington, D.C.
						2	Connecticut	77
	2	Connecticut	78
	15	Hampton	67

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 24

box score

#1 Maryland Terrapins 90, #2 Connecticut Huskies 82
Scoring by half: 44–37, 46–45
Pts: L. Baxter – 29 Rebs: L. Baxter – 9 Asts: S. Blake – 6		Pts: C. Butler – 33 Rebs: C. Butler – 7 Asts: C. Butler – 4

Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY Attendance: 29,252

Midwest Regional — Madison, Wisconsin

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Kansas	70
	16	Holy Cross	59
						1	Kansas	86
	St. Louis
						8	Stanford	63
	8	Stanford	84
	9	Western Kentucky	68
											1	Kansas	73
											4	Illinois	69
	5	Florida	82**
	12	Creighton	83
						12	Creighton	60
	Chicago
						4	Illinois	72
	4	Illinois	93
	13	San Diego State	64
																1	Kansas	104
																2	Oregon	86
	6	Texas	70
	11	Boston College	57
						6	Texas	68
	Dallas
						3	Mississippi State	64
	3	Mississippi State	70
	14	McNeese State	58
											6	Texas	70
											2	Oregon	72
	7	Wake Forest	83
	10	Pepperdine	74
						7	Wake Forest	87
	Sacramento
						2	Oregon	92
	2	Oregon	81
	15	Montana	62

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 24

box score

#1 Kansas Jayhawks 104, #2 Oregon Ducks 86
Scoring by half: 48–42, 56–44
Pts: N. Collison – 25 Rebs: D. Gooden – 20 Asts: A. Miles – 8		Pts: F. Jones – 32 Rebs: R. Johnson – 10 Asts: L. Ridnour – 7

Kohl Center – Madison, WI Attendance: 16,310 Referees: Jim Burr, Leslie Jones, Tom Lopes

South Regional — Lexington, Kentucky

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Duke	84
	16	Winthrop	37
						1	Duke	84
	Greenville
						8	Notre Dame	77
	8	Notre Dame	82
	9	Charlotte	63
											1	Duke	73
											5	Indiana	74
	5	Indiana	75
	12	Utah	56
						5	Indiana	76
	Sacramento
						13	UNC-Wilmington	67
	4	Southern California	89*
	13	UNC-Wilmington	93
																5	Indiana	81
																10	Kent State	69
	6	California	82
	11	Pennsylvania	75
						6	California	50
	Pittsburgh
						3	Pittsburgh	63
	3	Pittsburgh	71
	14	Central Connecticut State	54
											3	Pittsburgh	73*
											10	Kent State	78
	7	Oklahoma State	61
	10	Kent State	69
						10	Kent State	71
	Greenville
						2	Alabama	58
	2	Alabama	86
	15	Florida Atlantic	78

First Round summary

CBS

Thursday, March 14 12:20 p.m. EST

box score

#10 Kent State Golden Flashes 69, #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys 61
Scoring by half: 36–27, 33–34
Pts: D. Shaw – 21 Rebs: A. Mitchell – 8 Asts: A. Mitchell – 5		Pts: F. Jonzen – 19 Rebs: I. McFarlin – 11 Asts: C. Gadsen – 5

BI-LO Center – Greenville, SC Attendance: 13,194 Referees: Tim Higgins, Chris Rastatter, Bob Staffen

Second Round summary

CBS

Saturday, March 16 3:36 p.m. EST

box score

#10 Kent State Golden Flashes 71, #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 58
Scoring by half: 36–24, 35–34
Pts: T. Huffman – 20 Rebs: A. Gates – 9 Asts: T. Huffman – 5		Pts: R. Grizzard – 17 Rebs: E. Dudley – 10 Asts: M. Williams – 4

BI-LO Center – Greenville, SC Attendance: 13,962 Referees: Mark Whitehead, Reggie Greenwood, Rick Hartzell

Regional Semifinal summary

CBS

Thursday, March 21 10:15 p.m. EST

box score

#10 Kent State Golden Flashes 78, #3 Pittsburgh Panthers 73 (OT)
Scoring by half: 29–23, 37–43 Overtime: 12–7
Pts: A. Gates – 22 Rebs: A. Gates – 8 Asts: A. Gates – 4		Pts: B. Knight, J. Page – 18 Rebs: J. Brown, C. Troutman – 8 Asts: B. Knight – 6

Rupp Arena – Lexington, KY Attendance: 22,338 Referees: Stanley Reynolds, Duke Edsall, John Higgins

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 23 7:00 p.m. EST

box score

#5 Indiana Hoosiers 81, #10 Kent State Golden Flashes 69
Scoring by half: 40–28, 41–41
Pts: D. Fife – 17 Rebs: J. Jeffries – 7 Asts: T. Coverdale, K. Hornsby – 7		Pts: A. Gates – 22 Rebs: A. Gates, D. Shaw – 8 Asts: T. Huffman – 4

Rupp Arena – Lexington, KY Attendance: 22,435 Referees: Mark Whitehead, Scott Thornley, Tom Nunez

West Regional — San Jose, California

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Cincinnati	90
	16	Boston University	52
						1	Cincinnati	101**
	Pittsburgh
						8	UCLA	105
	8	UCLA	80
	9	Ole Miss	58
											8	UCLA	73
											12	Missouri	82
	5	Miami (FL)	80
	12	Missouri	93
						12	Missouri	83
	Albuquerque
						4	Ohio State	67
	4	Ohio State	69
	13	Davidson	64
																12	Missouri	75
																2	Oklahoma	81
	6	Gonzaga	66
	11	Wyoming	73
						11	Wyoming	60
	Albuquerque
						3	Arizona	68
	3	Arizona	86
	14	UC-Santa Barbara	81
											3	Arizona	67
											2	Oklahoma	88
	7	Xavier	70
	10	Hawaii	58
						7	Xavier	65
	Dallas
						2	Oklahoma	78
	2	Oklahoma	71
	15	Illinois-Chicago	63

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 23

box score

#2 Oklahoma Sooners 81, #12 Missouri Tigers 75
Scoring by half: 41–32, 40–43
Pts: H. Price – 18 Rebs: Q. White, D, Selvy – 7 Asts: Q. White – 7		Pts: R. Paulding – 22 Rebs: T. Bryant – 9 Asts: W. Stokes, R. Paulding – 4

Compaq Center – San Jose, CA Attendance: 18,040

Final Four — Atlanta, Georgia

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	Maryland	97
	M1	Kansas	88
						E1	Maryland	64
						S5	Indiana	52
	S5	Indiana	73
	W2	Oklahoma	64

Broadcast information

ESPN broadcast the opening-round game, then turned coverage over to CBS Sports for the remaining 63 games. They were carried on a regional basis until the "Elite Eight", at which point all games were shown nationally.

Westwood One had exclusive radio coverage.

CBS Sports announcers

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – First & Second Round at Washington, D.C.; East Regional at Syracuse, New York; Final Four at Atlanta, Georgia
• Dick Enberg and Matt Guokas – First & Second Round at St. Louis, Missouri; South Regional at Lexington, Kentucky
• Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Midwest Regional at Madison, Wisconsin
• Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico; West Regional at San Jose, California
• Kevin Harlan and Jon Sundvold – First & Second Round at Greenville, South Carolina
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Sacramento, California
• Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Dallas, Texas
• Tim Brando and Eddie Fogler – First & Second Round at Chicago, Illinois

Westwood One announcers

• Marty Brennaman and Larry Conley, 1st and 2nd Rounds at Greenville, South Carolina and South Regionals at Lexington, Kentucky

Local announcers

Region	Seed	Teams	Flagship station	Play-by-play announcer	Color analyst(s)
S	1
S	2
S	3
S	4
S	5
S	6
S	7
S	8
S	9
S	10	Kent State	WNIR–FM 100.1	Bill Needle
S	11
S	12
S	13
S	14
S	15
S	16

References

1. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2002 NCAA National Semifinals: (E1) Maryland 97, (MW1) Kansas 88". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
2. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2002 NCAA National Semifinals: (S5) Indiana 73, (W2) Oklahoma 64". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
3. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2002 NCAA National Championship: (E1) Maryland 64, (S5) Indiana 52". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.